A/N: Thanks for all the fab reviews, peops. Now, who's ready for date night? The Gilmore girls sure are! :)

(For disclaimer, etc. - see chapter 1)

Chapter 21

Rory wasn't sure she had ever been so excited about a Friday night, especially one where she wasn't going home from college. This weekend, she was staying at Yale, she was going to a party, and the best part was that Jess would be there.

"So," said Paris, appearing in the doorway of Rory's bedroom, "tonight's the night. You're bringing the actual boyfriend to the party?"

"That's the plan." Rory grinned at her in the mirror as she finished off her make-up. "I don't know why I was so afraid of this before. I don't think I even realised that I was afraid until it was too late. There is no reason why Jess can't fit right in with my friends, right?"

When Paris didn't answer, Rory turned to look at her and found her gone. Frowning, she got up from her seat and hurried out into the next room.

"Paris?"

"Come on, Rory, you're not this naive." Her friend rolled her eyes. "The girls at Yale are going to think Jess is just dreamy, the guys might even think he's cool, and that's great, but this isn't the big step you're pretending it is and you know it," she said, arms folded over her chest. "Yale is the middle ground, the safety net. There's not so much judgement here. Sure, you have to be smart to get in, but you don't necessarily have to have the status that your family and mine are known for."

"Are we talking about class again?" Rory sighed. "Paris, nobody cares about that anymore."

"Nobody here maybe," Paris agreed, "but can you really imagine taking Mariano home to meet Richard and Emily?"

Rory opened her mouth to say yes, she absolutely could imagine that, and then she actually did start imagining it and wished she hadn't. Grandma still wasn't really okay with the idea that Rory wasn't going to marry Logan and that she had shamed the family name by pretending and lying. Grandpa was a little more understanding, but he did have a habit of suggesting that someone 'just as good as Logan' will come along one day and be perfect for Rory.

The older generation did tend to have their own ideas about what was best for their children and grandchildren, and Rory knew that blue blood families like the Gilmores, the Gellers, and the Huntzbergers had certain ideas about what a suitable match was. One thing Rory knew for sure was that Jess would not be their idea of suitable at all.

"Look, we just got back to a good place," she told Paris eventually. "I'm not even sure we're officially back together yet, but if and when that happens, and I really hope it does, then at some point, I will introduce Jess to my grandparents and I'm sure they will like him."

Paris stared at her for a long moment with eyes so wide it was almost comical.

"Yeah, you're deluding yourself," she said eventually, "but hey, if that's what you need to do for now, go for it, Gilmore."

She turned back towards her own room then and Rory meant to call after her, telling her she was wrong. Unfortunately, it was impossible. Sometimes Rory hated that Paris was right so much, especially about things like this, but there was just no denying that she definitely had a point. Emily and Richard were unlikely to ever see Jess as a suitable boyfriend for Rory, but that didn't mean Rory herself saw him that way. She loved him, she was so sure of that. There was no way she could have suffered his loss so badly if she didn't. After everything, she wasn't prepared to give him up a second time, not for anyone or anything, and if that meant facing the further wrath of her grandparents, well, then, that was something she would just have to do. The way things were going with her mom and Luke lately, Rory doubted she would be alone.

Checking her watch, Rory hurried back to her room then. It was close to eight o'clock, Jess could be arriving any minute and she wanted to be ready. Double checking her hair and make-up, she decided she looked good enough. Just in time, as a knock on the door sent her running out to meet Jess, since she didn't want Paris to get there first. Rory opened the door and felt her breath catch at the sight of him.

"Hi," she forced out, blinking hard as she looked him over.

It wasn't as if he had dressed up at all, he looked perfectly normal, but normal for Jess was pretty damn good, Rory knew. She had just gotten out of the habit of seeing him, she supposed, and was happy to bask in the fact that he was back in her life now, gorgeous as ever, and equally as charming too.

"Hey," he said, smiling at her. "You look amazing."

"Two minds, one thought," she said absently. "Um, come in," she said, moving aside so that he could, just as Paris appeared from her room.

"So, the rebel returns," she said with a look.

"Nice to see you again, Paris." Jess nodded.

"Hey, don't get me wrong, I'm glad you're here," she said definitely. "Any more of emo-style Gilmore and I was going to crack. Anyway, I guess I'll see you two at the party, if I can stand to be there long enough for you to even get there." She rolled her eyes. "Honestly, keeping up appearances socially is just painful sometimes," she muttered as she squeezed between Rory and Jess and finally left.

"Are all your friends as charming as her?" he asked with a smirk.

"No, Paris is definitely in a league of her own." Rory smiled. "Um, so we should go?"

"We probably should," Jess agreed, and yet neither of them moved yet.

It was so strange, neither of them seemed to be sure exactly what they were waiting for, and yet, there they stood, one each to the left and right of the door, not opening it, not even suggesting they ought to try. They were looking everywhere but at each other, and then suddenly their eyes met, their arms went around each other, and they were kissing like their lives depended on it. It was a while before they bothered to come up for air and yet both were smiling all the same.

"Okay," Rory breathed. "God, I missed that," she admitted shakily.

"Well, at least we know that part still works," said Jess, tucking her hair back behind her ear.

Rory nodded her agreement, revelling in the feeling of being so close to him again, almost wishing she could be closer and yet afraid to suggest it. After all, Jess came here to go to a party with her, a gathering that would probably prove to be kind of lame, and yet, there was a purpose to their going. If they stayed there in the dorm together, there was no denying they would have a good time, but they wouldn't be moving forward. Their relationship would be back to what it had been before, an illicit liaison, a string of sexual encounters that hardly anybody knew about but them. Rory didn't want that anymore, at least, not just that. She wanted this relationship to mean something, to be real.

"Come on," she said, taking a hold of Jess' hand and encouraging him towards the door. "There's time for that later," she insisted. "We have a party to go to. I want to show the world, or at least Yale, how great my boyfriend is," she said, smiling at him.

"Sounds good." Jess nodded, grinning right back at her. "Let's go."

"Hey, you're here," said Lorelai, leaping up from her seat as Luke appeared.

"Yeah, sorry if I'm late," he said, looking awkward as he checked his watch.

"Oh, you're not. I was early. Way early," she explained. "It's weird, I never... well, I never actually asked a guy out before. I mean, I've been on dates, obviously, but it was a while ago and the guy asked me, picked me up, that whole thing-"

"Oh, well, maybe I should've-"

"No, no. I wasn't... I mean, I'm just saying this is a little weird for me."

"Honestly? It's a little weird for me too," Luke admitted, the both of them seemingly having a competition to see who could look more awkward in that moment. "Don't get me wrong, I'm glad you asked and I'm happy to be here, it's just..."

"Weird," Lorelai supplied, laughing nervously. "Well, now we're both here, how about we sit and try to act normal?"

"I will if you will." Luke nodded, waiting for Lorelai to sit down again before joining her.

His gentlemanly manners were not lost on her, in fact, they made her smile. Lorelai couldn't help but think of her parents, how one day they might meet Luke, maybe, hopefully, and if they did, for all the things about him they might find to pick on, they would have to admit he was a gentleman with impeccable manners, at least.

"What?" he asked, catching her staring and smiling oddly at him. "Should I be wearing a tie?"

"No, no. No, that's not... You look great," Lorelai assured him.

"Oh, thanks," Luke replied, shifting awkwardly. "You also look great... and I should've said that when I came in."

"It's fine." Lorelai waved away his concern with her hand. "It's crazy really, I don't know why this feels so strange. I mean, we have conversations in the diner all the time and now, in a different eatery, it suddenly feels weird."

"I don't know why that is." Luke shook his head. "I mean, it's not that I don't want to be here. I mean, I appreciated the invitation, not that you needed to, I don't know, pay me back or anything. I was just being a friend."

"A friend, right." Lorelai nodded. "Well, that's what this is, a friendly meal, with a friend. I mean, yeah, it's a thank you, kind of, for all the help with the inn, business stuff, all of that, but mostly just friends eating together."

"Right. Friends."

"Exactly."

Silence reigned after they made their agreement on being just friends and Lorelai tried to supress the sigh that wanted to escape. She was such an idiot. She did not want to be just friends with Luke. Not that what they had so far wasn't great, but more would be even better. Now he was going to think she wasn't interested in that at all.

On the other side of the table, Luke was similarly kicking himself. Lorelai was great and he could not have been more thrilled when she asked him out to dinner, even if he had been kind of surprised and felt a little silly that he hadn't made the first move. Now she was suggesting that this wasn't a move at all, but just a dinner between friends. Maybe if he had just said something about them potentially being more than that, she would have been okay with it. Now, Luke supposed, he would never know.

"So, this is what it's like to party at Yale," said Jess, sipping his warm beer and surveying the scene.

"This is it." Rory nodded. "Impressed?"

"Bowled over," he dead-panned, making her laugh.

"I never promised it would be an exciting affair."

"Very true. It is nice to meet your friends though," Jess admitted, raising a hand when a girl waved at him from the area designated as the dancefloor.

"Lucy's great." Rory smiled. "Marty too. I'm not all that close with anybody else here, to be honest. A lot of my friends don't actually go to Yale, except for... um, well..."

"Logan?" said Jess, trying and failing at keeping his voice even.

"Yes, Logan," Rory agreed, "and some others, who are also friends with him. Jess, I'm sorry, I-"

"Hey, don't worry about it," he said, waving away her concern with his free hand. "It's not like I expected you to never mention the guy. You've known him a long time, right?"

"I have." Rory nodded. "And as much as you probably don't want to hear this right now, I feel like I should say it anyway. You know, Logan really isn't a bad guy. He got in a fix and he asked me for a favour. I know it was really, really dumb. I think even he realises the stupidity inherent in the plan now, so I was thinking if you've found a way to forgive me, maybe you can forgive him too?" she said hopefully, squirming terribly as she continued. "I just don't want to feel like I can't mention him or that there's going to be some major problem if you guys ever run into each other. You want to be a part of my world and I want that too, but Logan is there. I don't want to have to choose between being with you and keeping a good friend."

It all came out in such a rush, Jess was sure if he hadn't long since adjusted to the speed at which the Gilmore girls talked, he never would've caught everything Rory just said. As it was, he almost wished he hadn't heard it all so he didn't have to give in and tell her it was okay. He really would prefer if he never had to hear about, see, or even think about Logan Huntzberger ever again, but that wasn't going to happen. Asking Rory to choose between Logan and himself really would be unfair, Jess supposed, even if the larger part of him wished it wasn't.

"Jess, please understand," she urged him, when he didn't answer for too long. "You know you mean a lot to me, and I'm not saying that Logan means more, because he doesn't, but he has been a good friend to me for so many years, and we have a lot of other friends in common. It would be so hard to cut him out of my life-"

"I'm not asking you to do that," said Jess fast. "Rory, I'm not," he promised her, his hand on her arm.

"That's good. Thank you."

"You don't have to thank me for saying you can keep your friend. Geez, what kind of guy would I be if I tried to do that to you?"

"Not the great guy that I know you are." Rory smiled, leaning in to kiss his lips. "I just don't want to make things tough on you next time we go to a party and he's there."

Jess smiled at the fact Rory was so easily talking about some future date of theirs, as if there was absolutely no question that it wouldn't happen. That meant more to him than she probably realised.

"C'mere," he said, pulling her to him and kissing her firmly. "I can handle being in the same room with Huntzberger," he assured her when they parted, foreheads still touching. "Though I'll admit, I'm kinda glad that he's not here tonight."

"Me too actually," Rory told him, smiling.

"You know those girls?" he asked them, looking past her shoulder.

Rory turned to see who he was talking about and frowned some. "Um, no, I don't, actually," she realised. "Why?"

"No reason." Jess shook his head. "I just thought they were staring because they knew you, but apparently not," he noted, smirking a little into his beer.

"Nope, they're staring at my really hot boyfriend and getting jealous," said Rory proudly, pulling on his free hand until he was on his feet. "Come on, let's dance really close and make them turn even more shades of green."

Jess laughed at the idea but went with it anyway, because honestly, why the hell not?

"So," said Lorelai as she and Luke stepped out of the restaurant into the cold night air.

"So," he echoed back, shifting awkwardly a couple of feet away from her on the pavement.

They had managed to strike up some pretty decent conversation over dinner, despite the rocky start, but all in all, neither one could say the evening had gone entirely as they had hoped. Now came the part where they went their separate ways and Lorelai couldn't help the wave of disappointment that was crashing around inside of her.

She thought she was being brave when she asked Luke out to dinner like this, and kind of hoped she could pass the bravery baton onto him when it came to moving forward another step. Clearly, she was wrong, unless of course he just didn't like her as much as she thought.

"You okay?" he asked, letting her know her frustration and disappointment was showing on her face.

"Um, no... or yes," she said awkwardly. "I was just thinking, maybe I shouldn't have suggested this whole going out to dinner thing. I mean, you probably had better things to do than spend the evening with me anyway, you know, diner stuff or... or personal stuff, because obviously your whole life isn't the diner, I didn't mean that. What I meant was, it was probably kind of selfish of me to just assume that dinner with me would be a treat for you. Makes me seem a little fat-headed when you think about it, and clearly, you would rather be elsewhere, so-"

"Lorelai?" he said, catching her attention and finally making her stop talking.

"Huh?"

"Could you just hold still for a second?"

Before she could ask why or even think about what was about to happen next, Lorelai felt Luke's hand slide behind her head and then he was kissing her and it didn't matter that she couldn't breathe or that they were out on the street where anyone could see them. Her arms slid around Luke as his own pulled her closer and what seemed to be the perfect kiss went on and on and on...

To Be Continued...